Piano Sonata No. 5 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1 was written between 1796 and 1798 and is dedicated to Countess Anna Margarete von Browne.
According to Joachim Kaiser , the so-called “little” C minor sonata is often wrongly underestimated; its brevity and conciseness prevented this “wildly brilliant” outburst from being valued. Kaiser rates it as more pointed and stormy than the “clearer and more self-assured” pathétique .
construction
- First movement: Allegro molto e con brio, C minor, 3/4 measure, 284 measures
- Second movement: Adagio molto, A flat major, 2/4 time, 112 bars
- Third movement: finale. Prestissimo, C minor, alla breve , 122 bars
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The first movement can be described as a sonata main movement form . Siegfried Mauser speaks of the principle of "contrasting derivation", which means that even contrasting musical elements (using the example of the sonata movement, main and secondary theme) "can be structurally related to a common core". Numerous motivic references between the topic group and the opening bars can already be found in the first movement.
Exposure
The exposition encompasses bars 1 to 105. The main movement (bars 1–30), noted with its beginning opposite, can be subdivided into two contrasting groups of motifs A and B: a triad and triad breaks rising in dotted rhythm on the one hand, and a second movement descending in piano on the other . The law is strikingly cadential completed fortissimo chords and borders from below by a one-bar break from General (T. 31). A reconciliation (T. 32-55) continues the motif known from A rising sixth g 1 - it 2 , and developed a new lyrical thoughts, fluent in the side set (T. 56-86), consisting of the second subject (T . 56–63) and its continued spinning (T. 64–94), passes over. The secondary theme in E flat major is derived from the ascending sixth from measure 1 and the downward movement of the seconds from measure 3. Bars 86–94, which are linked to motif A of the main theme, can still be counted as part of the continuation of the secondary theme: After a cadenza in E flat major follows the final group (bar 95–105), which takes up the lead from bar 50, but can essentially be traced back to the second movement from the beginning.
execution
The implementation begins with a modification of the main thread, which have a diminished seventh to subdominant minor f is guided. The following episode from bar 118 is rhythmically more reminiscent of the side movement, but the melody also contains the sixth and second movements exposed at the beginning, whereby the octave in the right hand helps to create a new timbre. This is followed by a modulatory passage that spins on the motifs of the episode , starting from F minor via B minor, D flat major and F minor back to the tonic in C minor.
Recapitulation
The beginning of the recapitulation corresponds exactly to that of the exposition, although the main movement, which originally comprised 30 bars, is reduced to 21 bars. The transition from bar 191 now begins in G flat major (instead of A flat major in the exposition) and ends in bar 207 in C major, which is treated as a dominant to F major, in which key the secondary theme also sounds in bar 215 . This key, which is unusual for the appearance of the second theme in the recapitulation, is corrected in mm. 229-231, after which the second theme now appears in C minor - octaves and in forte . Analogous to the exposition, elements from the main theme and the final group appear again towards the end - now in the tonic in C minor. At the end, however, the soft, sigh -like lead endings of the exposition are replaced by a simple tonic and two subsequent powerful chord hits (dominant tonic). The addition of a final pause bar with a fermata is unusual , through which Beethoven probably wanted to suggest that the second movement should only follow after a suitable pause.
2nd movement
The Adagio corresponds to a two-part song form with coda ( A-A'-Coda ), whereby the main parts can be divided into three subject groups. The second (mm. 24–31) and third (mm. 31–44) themes in the first part are in the dominant key of E flat major and are aligned with the tonic A flat major in the second part. From bar 91, the two main parts are followed by a coda that takes up the opening theme, but simplifies it rhythmically and finally lets it fade out in pianissimo .
3rd movement
The finale is designed as a "compressed sonata main movement": The first theme (bars 1–8) is characterized by a rhythmically distinctive prelude of five eighth notes - on the other hand, the second theme in E flat major (bars 17–24) is initially light and dancing up. In the further course of the exposition, however, the driving character of the first topic regains the upper hand. The extremely brief development based on the head motif (bars 47-57) closes with a diminished seventh downward leap repeated in three octaves downwards, the rhythm of which could be seen as an anticipation of the head theme of the 5th symphony . The recapitulation (bars 58-106), in which the second theme sounds in C major, but later changed to C minor, is followed by a short coda: the second theme now appears in D flat major and slows down to the Adagio . After a pensive fermata, the movement returns to the starting tempo with a sharp fortissimo outburst, followed by an alternating combination of the opening motifs of both themes in piano , before the movement ends in C major in a low register.
See also
literature
- Joachim Kaiser : Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas and their interpreters . Verlag Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-596-23601-0 .
- Siegfried Mauser : Beethoven's piano sonatas , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-41873-2 .
Web links
- Piano Sonata No. 5 : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project